Feeling somewhat bored and in need of adventure on a Thursday evening, I decided to make a trip to the Salt Lounge to see the former voice of Death from Above 1979. Being unfamiliar with his solo material with the Mountains barring a few listens via his website, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Luckily, I experienced some excellent rocking.

The opening band was a local one, known as To Tell. And I’m sorry to have to tell (*snicker*) you this, but they weren’t my cup of tea. After opening with a thoroughly out of place cover of Sweet Caroline, I was expecting a Neil Diamond cover band, but got a rather obnoxious poppy punk band in the vein of, oh I don’t know, +44 or something. Combine that with the guitarist being cut out of nearly the entire final song, and it all seemed rather amateurish.

The next band, Hot Springs, was more to my liking. Hailing from Montreal, they made an impression on me with some of the weirdest stage banter I’ve heard since Isaac Brock. The lead singer seems to have a little Karen O. in her, and it made for some great music to warm up for the main show.

Finally, Sebastien graced the stage and opened the show by claiming that tonight, “someone’s gonna get PREGNANT.” Sebastien et les Montagnes proceeded to rock out for the rest of the night. Sebastien’s antics on stage made the show well worth the price of admission, and the new tunes, which had a more traditional rock sound overall but still with quirks, gained my approval in the form of a high five. I can safely say I’m eagerly awaiting the album hopefully coming later this year. In the meantime, here’s a song from the debut 7” Single.